dimentions of your kettle vs hop aroma

[Stonechat]

What does Graham mean by an inadequate amount of yeast being carried across?
I don't doubt the criticality of the 6 feet for optimising yeast performance, but when I look at what the yeast isdoing through the FV walls it is like a blizzard of yeast floccules going up and down. I call it "The Greatest Show on Earth."

[Stonechat]

Thanks for informing it was a post as I was reading through the yeast sections in the Camra books and could not find that passage.
I guess the drop or not to drop debate will go on forever, but as the SG reading tells me that the yeast has done its job to within 2 or 3 points of the racking gravity and the bubbler on the closed secondary is bubbling away, then enough yeast has been carried over to finish off the beer.

The main point for me is that as I harvest the "krausen head" (hope I'm using the right description) I need to transfer to a secondary FV to protect the beer once the protective layer of yeast has been removed for the next brew.

[Stonechat]

Another AG brewer in the town uses the slurry rather than the krausen. He said it was his choice because the slurry is sterile.
I collect the krausen once it is formed into a buttery coloured layer just over an inch thick. Once it's at this stage any brown trub that was carried up at the start of fermentation has dropped back down into the slurry.
It's the sight of these brown bits in the slurry that puts me off using the slurry, as I don't know how to wash these bits out.

Once the creamy krausen has been collected using a sterilised slotted spoon and a sterilised cookpot reserved for just that purpose, I give the yeast a whisk and weigh it into 2 sterilised kilner jars. I aim for 140g of yeast barm per jar. If I only do one brew the second jar is disposed of.
If the brew recipe has any sugar in it I don't save the yeast.
This Monday I did an Amarillo and a GW recipe wheat beer. I've harvested the yeast off the Amarillo, but disposed of the wheat beer head
as although quite creamy and sweet smelling, didn't fancy using it as it had dealt with such a lot of wheat.

[Stonechat]

I skim the trub before it sinks into the beer, particularly if I plan on using the slurry.

If you don't, to clean it all you do is add the slurry along with some sterile water to a clear jug/jar/pint glass. Mix it all up, cover and put in the fridge. Check it every 5-10 mins or so, once you see a faint creamy white line form over the dirtier sediment layer that settles first, pour off the water which will still contain all your nice clean yeast, ready for use or storage.

Did not think it was as simple as that, so will store that away for possible use in the future.
What is the difference between the yeast on top and the slurry below, that is, if there is difference. I take it that the yeast in the slurry is not feeble, but just lacks enough sugar to make CO2 in order to flocculate to the top.
I thought the yeast on top had more vitality, but it seems I have that wrong.

[Stonechat]

Sorry Daab I don't use anything too sophisticated. I am guided by the advice given by Muntons in their handout packs, which is to use 1.7g to 3.3g per litre for pressed yeast or double that for barm, which equates to between 85g and 165g for 26 litres of wort.
I harvest 140g of barm and as it only has to wait from Thursday until Monday to get to work again, enough cells should be viable.

FWIW the best sequence I managed was 66 generations of skimming and repitching before having to go back to the brewery with a sterilised jar.

[Stonechat]

I guess this has gone a bit off the original post, apologies for that. It probably should have gone over to the Ingredients:Yeast part of the index and is of little interest to those on Jims who only use dried yeast.

However, how can yeast be geriatric if it has managed to do it's stuff and get to the top of the brew?

[Stonechat]

Time yeast pitched.....OG.....Time yeast skimmed.....SG
Mon. 13:20 1040 Wed. 09:30 1012
Mon. 18:30 1040 Thurs.09:00 1010
Mon. 18:45 1042 Thurs. 09:45 1016
Mon.15:30 1050 Thurs. 09:30 1012

Hope these make sense, they are from the last beers brewed:Morrell's Varsity Bitter, Holden's Black Country Mild,Timothy Taylor Landlord and Amarillo, which was pitched with 6th generation yeast.
I guess there is a lag phase of about 12 hours before the head covers the complete surface, a nervous time because the true aroma from the interaction between the yeast, malt and hops is not apparent. In fact if the finished beer smelt like that I'd throw it! Then on the second day the head gets thicker and the hoppy aroma kicks in and deep joy, another 25 litres of drinkables

[RabMaxwell]

It makes a bloody mess when you use it in a King Keg though, I gave up and left the lid off in the end

Daab have you not tried using some Antifoam with blow - off tube when using vigorous yeasts in the king Keg. I will be using my modified King Keg in the next couple of day's as my yeast cultivator for my Burton Ale yeast.The stirred starter i was worried about seems to have worked well plenty of yeast slurry just decanted the wort from the top & awaiting another 2 litres of wort to cool down before putting back on the stir-plate just to decide what beer to make probably go with another Bluebird Bitter